Editorial: Marin GOP's backing of same-sex marriage the right move

Keith Pepper and Ken Raith enter the Marin County Assessor's office to get their marriage license on Monday, July 1, 2013, in San Rafael, Calif. They were later married in the garden. They have been together 22 years. A recent decision by the U.S. Supreme Court made same-sex marriage legal. (Frankie Frost/Marin Independent Journal)
Frankie Frost

HERB CAEN could have claimed it as one of his "only in Marin" column items.

We hope the Marin Republican Party's vote to support legalization of same-sex marriage does not start and end here.

Kevin Krick, chairman of the Marin GOP, said the party's local leaders took the stand to "correct" Marin voters' perception that the Republican Party is not a "viable choice," and one that supports personal freedoms.

"A core tenet of the Republican philosophy, personal freedom, is a right of every citizen and that includes the right to choose whom to marry, regardless of gender," the Marin GOP said in its press statement on what it called "marriage equality."

By becoming one of the first GOP county committees to embrace gay marriage, Marin Republicans are getting back in step with a large majority of local voters.

In 2008, more than 75 percent of Marin voters opposed Proposition 8, the initiative to outlaw gay marriage.

Krick said the decision, which has drawn national attention, is part of the Marin GOP's "strategic planning effort" to veer away from divisive national social issues and focus on local matters such as regional planning and public pension reform.

For Marin Republicans, in particular, the handwriting was on the wall. Its influence in Marin politics has dwindled as its numbers have shrunk. Its share of Marin's registered voters had slipped to just 18 percent and its ability to recruit strong candidates is hamstrung by a strong likelihood that party hopefuls don't stand a chance and will have to run without financial backing.

It has been more than 20 years since Marin voters elected a Republican to a partisan office.

Today, Marin Republicans are outnumbered by voters who declined to join any party, and Democrats' advantage is nearly three-fold.

Local GOP leaders' message might have been much stronger if the central committee, before taking a principled stand, hadn't first taken a hard look at the issue from what Krick called "a purely quantitative standpoint."

"We tried to base our decisions on facts not feelings, like any company would do. We asked ourselves, 'What is it that we can do here to improve our product?'"

Priniciple should trump "product" on a civil rights issue like gay marriage.

Becoming one of the first county Republican Party committees in the nation to come out in support of same-sex marriage has, at least, put the Marin GOP on the map. It has drawn mixed reactions from Republican leaders. That reflects a party whose leaders and candidates have been split on an important issue. There's nothing wrong with that; that's politics.

Local party leaders, however, realize that they have been out of step with an overwhelming number of Marin voters.

It may be "strategic planning," but it also is a step in the right direction for a party that has long held that it is "inclusive."